Working hard for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich

April 28, 2005

Thursday

I was on Radio Suffolk this morning. It made a good change from normal canvassing. There was Sir Michael and the LibDem candidate with Mark Murphy in the chair. Firstly we were quizzed on our manifesto and then we were joined by three students from Northgate High School - one supporter from each party. The candidates were given three minutes each to lay out their case and then we were joined in debate by the students.

Trust was the first issue, as it was the big story with the leaking of Goldsmith's advice. Clearly a difficult area for Labour and especially Tony Blair. I think you have to look at Blair's wider record so I praised his commitment to health and educations and his world leadership on issues such as climate change and global poverty. Education, especially tuition fees, was debated at length and we finished up with global warming. There is clear green water between the other two candidates and myself as they are opposed to building a windfarm at Parham.

All in all a good experience. I then had a meeting at Endeavour House with a County Council officer before getting home for an afternoon at the computer. Today, the early evening canvassing was in Castle Hill, Ipswich and we were joined by colleagues from Wickham Market. It was a cold wind that blew but we got a warm response on the doorstep again.